Historia Britonum
Encyclopedia
The Historia Brittonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first composed around 830, and exists in several recension
s of varying difference. It purports to relate the history of the Brittonic
inhabitants of Britain
from earliest times, and this text has been used to write a history of both Wales
and England, for want of more reliable sources. Nennius
is traditionally named as the author of the text, though this is widely considered a secondary tradition, originating in the 10th century.
, king of Gwynedd
(r. c. 825-844) in the 4th year of his reign, probably sometime between 828 and 830.
The text itself is a collection of excerpts, chronological calculations, glosses, and summaries based on earlier records, many of which no longer exist. As a result, the reliability of this work has been questioned both in part and in whole. The archaeologist Leslie Alcock
observed that in one recension of this manuscript the author called his work a heap of all he could find, and suggested that if we were to extend this metaphor, this text is:
Another view is offered by Professor David Dumville
, who has done a great deal of research into the transmission of this text and the relationship of its recensions. Dumville believes that this text has been revised, supplemented, and rewritten many times and in many ways between the date of its apparent origin, and the date of its surviving manuscripts. The intent of its author was to produce a synchronizing chronicle after the manner of Irish
historians in his own time. And since this manuscript offered the only history of Wales complementary to Bede
's own Ecclesiastical History of the English People
, it was reproduced and revised to meet this demand.
, a Welsh monk of the 9th century. However, examination of the numerous recensions has shown that Gildas
was also claimed as its author (likely because Gildas was the only historical author its scribes knew), while others (such as the British Library
manuscript Harleian 3859
) do not name an author. Dumville's research has shown that the ascription of this work to Nennius originated in the 10th century in one branch of the manuscript transmission, created by a scribe seeking to root this work in the intellectual traditions of that time.
. It is the earliest source that presents Arthur as a historical figure, and is the source of several stories which were repeated and amplified by later authors.
, who allowed the Saxons
to settle in the island of Britain in return for the hand of Hengist's daughter. One legend recorded of Vortigern concerns his attempt to build a stronghold near Snowdon
, called Dinas Emrys
, only to have his building materials disappear each time he tries. His advisers tell him to sprinkle the blood of a boy born without a father on the site to lift the curse. Vortigern finds such a youth in Ambrosius
, who rebukes the wise men and reveals that the cause of the disturbance is two serpents buried under the ground.
The tower story is repeated and embellished by Geoffrey of Monmouth
in his Historia Regum Britanniae
, though he attributes it to Merlin
, saying "Ambrosius" is the sage's alternate name. Geoffrey also includes Aurelius Ambrosius, another figure mentioned in the Historia, as a king in his own right, and also includes other characters such as Vortimer
and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre
.
, here called dux bellorum (war leader) rather than king:
Most of these battle sites are obscure and cannot be identified. Some of the battles appear in other Welsh literature, though not all are connected explicitly with Arthur. Some scholars have proposed that the author took the list from a now-lost Old Welsh poem which listed Arthur's twelve great victories, based on the fact that some of the names appear to rhyme and the suggestion that the odd description of Arthur bearing the image of the Virgin Mary
on his shoulders at Guinnion might contain a confusion of the Welsh word iscuit (shield) for iscuid (shoulders). However others reject this as untenable, arguing instead that the author included battles which were not previously associated with Arthur or perhaps made them up entirely. A similar story to that attached to Guinnion also appears in the Annales Cambriae
; here, Arthur is described as carrying "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights…," though here the battle is said to be Badon rather than Guinnon. T. M. Charles-Edwards argues that these accounts both refer to a single source. Other scholars, however, such as Thomas Jones and N. J. Higham, argue that the Annales account is based directly on the Historia, in which case the name of the battle would have been switched from the unknown Guinnon to the famous Badon, and the icon Arthur carries replaced with a more common one.
The Battle of Mount Badon is associated with Arthur in several later texts, but not in any that predate the Historia. It was clearly a historical battle, being described by Gildas
, who does not mention the name of the Britons' leader (he does, however, mention Aurelius Ambrosius as a great scourge of the Saxons immediately prior.) Of the other battles, only the Battle of Tribuit is generally agreed to be associated with Arthur in another early Welsh source. Tribuit appears as Tryfrwyd in the Old Welsh poem Pa Gur?, dating to perhaps the mid-9th century. Here it is associated with cinbin, or dogheads
; Arthur's men fight them in the mountains of Eidyn
(Edinburgh) and spar with a character named Garwlwyd (Rough-Gray), who is likely identical with the Gwrgi Garwlwyd (Man-Dog Rough-Grey) who appears in one of the Welsh Triads
. Arthur's main protagonist in the fight is Bedwyr
, later known as Sir Bedivere, and an earlier reference in the poem indicates that the euhemerized
god Manawydan
is involved as well. "The City of the Legion" may be a reference to Caerleon
, whose name translates as such, but it might also refer to Chester
, the site of a large Roman base.
Cat Coit Celidon is a reference to the Caledonian Forest
(Coed Celyddon) which once covered the Southern Uplands
of Scotland. Scholar Marged Haycock has suggested this battle can be identified with the Cad Goddeu, the "Battle of the Trees," best known from the 10th-century poem Cad Goddeu
. Arthur is mentioned towards the end of this poem, and a fragment of a story about the battle preserved in manuscript Peniarth 98B states that the battle had an alternate name, Cad Achren, which suggests a connection with the Caer Ochren raided by Arthur in the earlier poem Preiddeu Annwfn
.
Various writers have asserted that this chapter supports a historical basis for King Arthur
and have tried to identify the twelve battles with historical feuds or locales (see Sites and places associated with Arthurian legend
). However, scholar Thomas Green argues that the fact that the only identifiable battles linked explicitly with Arthur in Old Welsh sources are exclusively mythological undermines any claims that the battles had a basis in history.
The sections that provide these stories are present in the Harleian manuscript, but not in all of the existing recensions.
that claim to be excerpts from a (now lost) biography about this saint, a unique collection of traditions about Saint Patrick
, as well as a section describing events in the North of England in the sixth and seventh centuries which begins with a paragraph about the beginnings of Welsh literature
(ch. 62):
Recension
Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author...
s of varying difference. It purports to relate the history of the Brittonic
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
inhabitants of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
from earliest times, and this text has been used to write a history of both Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and England, for want of more reliable sources. Nennius
Nennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
is traditionally named as the author of the text, though this is widely considered a secondary tradition, originating in the 10th century.
Text
Primarily on the basis of a dating clause in § 16, the prevalent view by historians is that the text of the Historia Brittonum was composed for Merfyn Frych ap GwriadMerfyn Frych ap Gwriad
Merfyn Frych was King of Gwynedd , the first king not descended from the male line of Maelgwn Gwynedd. Little is known of his reign, and his primary notability is as the father of Rhodri the Great...
, king of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Gwynedd was one petty kingdom of several Welsh successor states which emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, and later evolved into a principality during the High Middle Ages. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the...
(r. c. 825-844) in the 4th year of his reign, probably sometime between 828 and 830.
The text itself is a collection of excerpts, chronological calculations, glosses, and summaries based on earlier records, many of which no longer exist. As a result, the reliability of this work has been questioned both in part and in whole. The archaeologist Leslie Alcock
Leslie Alcock
Leslie Alcock was Professor of Archaeology at the University of Glasgow, and one of the leading archaeologists of Early Mediaeval Britain. His major excavations included Dinas Powys hill fort in Wales, Cadbury Castle, South Cadbury in Somerset and a series of major hillforts in Scotland.-Early...
observed that in one recension of this manuscript the author called his work a heap of all he could find, and suggested that if we were to extend this metaphor, this text is:
- like a cairn of stones, uneven and ill-fitting… as an example of the historian's art it is atrocious. But it has the virtue of its defects. We can see the individual stones of the cairn, and in some cases we can trace the parent rock from which they came, and establish its age and soundness.
Another view is offered by Professor David Dumville
David Dumville
Professor David Norman Dumville is a British medievalist and Celtic scholar. He was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Ludwig-Maximilian Universität, Munich, and received his PhD. at the University of Edinburgh in 1976. In 1974, he married Sally Lois Hannay, with whom he had one son...
, who has done a great deal of research into the transmission of this text and the relationship of its recensions. Dumville believes that this text has been revised, supplemented, and rewritten many times and in many ways between the date of its apparent origin, and the date of its surviving manuscripts. The intent of its author was to produce a synchronizing chronicle after the manner of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
historians in his own time. And since this manuscript offered the only history of Wales complementary to Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's own Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
, it was reproduced and revised to meet this demand.
Author
Traditionally, the Historia Brittonum is ascribed to NenniusNennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
, a Welsh monk of the 9th century. However, examination of the numerous recensions has shown that Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
was also claimed as its author (likely because Gildas was the only historical author its scribes knew), while others (such as the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
manuscript Harleian 3859
Harleian genealogies
The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harleian MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Collection, the manuscript, which also contains the Annales Cambriae and a version of the Historia Brittonum, has been dated to c. 1100, although a date of c.1200...
) do not name an author. Dumville's research has shown that the ascription of this work to Nennius originated in the 10th century in one branch of the manuscript transmission, created by a scribe seeking to root this work in the intellectual traditions of that time.
Associations with King Arthur
The Historia Brittonum has drawn attention because of its role in influencing the legends and myths surrounding King ArthurKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
. It is the earliest source that presents Arthur as a historical figure, and is the source of several stories which were repeated and amplified by later authors.
Vortigern and Ambrosius
The Historia contains a story of the king VortigernVortigern
Vortigern , also spelled Vortiger and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in Britain, a leading ruler among the Britons. His existence is considered likely, though information about him is shrouded in legend. He is said to have invited the Saxons to settle in Kent as mercenaries to aid him in...
, who allowed the Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
to settle in the island of Britain in return for the hand of Hengist's daughter. One legend recorded of Vortigern concerns his attempt to build a stronghold near Snowdon
Snowdon
Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain"...
, called Dinas Emrys
Dinas Emrys
Dinas Emrys is a rocky and wooded hillock near Beddgelert in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Rising some 250 ft above the floor of the Glaslyn river valley, it overlooks the southern end of Llyn Dinas in Snowdonia. Little remains of the castle structures that once stood here, save its stone...
, only to have his building materials disappear each time he tries. His advisers tell him to sprinkle the blood of a boy born without a father on the site to lift the curse. Vortigern finds such a youth in Ambrosius
Ambrosius Aurelianus
Ambrosius Aurelianus, ; called Aurelius Ambrosius in the Historia Regum Britanniae and elsewhere, was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas...
, who rebukes the wise men and reveals that the cause of the disturbance is two serpents buried under the ground.
The tower story is repeated and embellished by Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
in his Historia Regum Britanniae
Historia Regum Britanniae
The Historia Regum Britanniae is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written c. 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons in a chronological narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation...
, though he attributes it to Merlin
Merlin
Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
, saying "Ambrosius" is the sage's alternate name. Geoffrey also includes Aurelius Ambrosius, another figure mentioned in the Historia, as a king in his own right, and also includes other characters such as Vortimer
Vortimer
Vortimer is a figure in British tradition, a son of the 5th-century Britonnic ruler Vortigern. He is remembered for his fierce opposition to his father's Saxon allies...
and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre was a bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31. He visited Britain in around 429 and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society...
.
Arthur's battles
Chapter 56 discusses twelve battles fought and won by ArthurKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, here called dux bellorum (war leader) rather than king:
- At that time, the Saxons grew strong by virtue of their large number and increased in power in Britain. Hengist having died, however, his son Octha crossed from the northern part of Britain to the kingdom of Kent and from him are descended the kings of Kent. Then Arthur along with the kings of Britain fought against them in those days, but Arthur himself was the military commander ["dux bellorum"]. His first battle was at the mouth of the river which is called Glein. His second, third, fourth, and fifth battles were above another river which is called Dubglas and is in the region of LinnuisKingdom of LindseyLindsey or Linnuis is the name of a petty Anglo-Saxon kingdom, absorbed into Northumbria in the 7th century.It lay between the Humber and the Wash, forming its inland boundaries from the course of the Witham and Trent rivers , and the Foss Dyke between...
. The sixth battle was above the river which is called Bassas. The seventh battle was in the forest of Celidon, that is Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth battle was at the fortress of Guinnion, in which Arthur carried the image of holy Mary ever virgin on his shoulders; and the pagans were put to flight on that day. And through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the power of the blessed Virgin Mary his mother there was great slaughter among them. The ninth battle was waged in the City of the LegionCaerleonCaerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...
. The tenth battle was waged on the banks of a river which is called Tribruit. The eleventh battle was fought on the mountain which is called Agnet. The twelfth battle was on Mount Badon in which there fell in one day 960 men from one charge by Arthur; and no one struck them down except Arthur himself, and in all the wars he emerged as victor. And while they were being defeated in all the battles, they were seeking assistance from Germany and their numbers were being augmented many times over without interruption. And they brought over kings from Germany that they might reign over them in Britain, right down to the time in which IdaIda of BerniciaIda is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later Anglo-Saxon kings in this part of northern England and southern Scotland...
reigned, who was son of Eobba. He was the first king in Bernicia, i.e., in Berneich.
Most of these battle sites are obscure and cannot be identified. Some of the battles appear in other Welsh literature, though not all are connected explicitly with Arthur. Some scholars have proposed that the author took the list from a now-lost Old Welsh poem which listed Arthur's twelve great victories, based on the fact that some of the names appear to rhyme and the suggestion that the odd description of Arthur bearing the image of the Virgin Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
on his shoulders at Guinnion might contain a confusion of the Welsh word iscuit (shield) for iscuid (shoulders). However others reject this as untenable, arguing instead that the author included battles which were not previously associated with Arthur or perhaps made them up entirely. A similar story to that attached to Guinnion also appears in the Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae
Annales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, is the name given to a complex of Cambro-Latin chronicles deriving ultimately from a text compiled from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales, not later than the 10th century...
; here, Arthur is described as carrying "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on his shoulders for three days and three nights…," though here the battle is said to be Badon rather than Guinnon. T. M. Charles-Edwards argues that these accounts both refer to a single source. Other scholars, however, such as Thomas Jones and N. J. Higham, argue that the Annales account is based directly on the Historia, in which case the name of the battle would have been switched from the unknown Guinnon to the famous Badon, and the icon Arthur carries replaced with a more common one.
The Battle of Mount Badon is associated with Arthur in several later texts, but not in any that predate the Historia. It was clearly a historical battle, being described by Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
, who does not mention the name of the Britons' leader (he does, however, mention Aurelius Ambrosius as a great scourge of the Saxons immediately prior.) Of the other battles, only the Battle of Tribuit is generally agreed to be associated with Arthur in another early Welsh source. Tribuit appears as Tryfrwyd in the Old Welsh poem Pa Gur?, dating to perhaps the mid-9th century. Here it is associated with cinbin, or dogheads
Cynocephaly
The condition of cynocephaly, having the head of a dog — or of a jackal— is a widely attested mythical phenomenon existing in many different forms and contexts.-Etymology:...
; Arthur's men fight them in the mountains of Eidyn
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
(Edinburgh) and spar with a character named Garwlwyd (Rough-Gray), who is likely identical with the Gwrgi Garwlwyd (Man-Dog Rough-Grey) who appears in one of the Welsh Triads
Welsh Triads
The Welsh Triads are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a rhetorical form whereby objects are grouped together in threes, with a heading indicating the point of likeness...
. Arthur's main protagonist in the fight is Bedwyr
Bedivere
In Arthurian legend, Sir Bedivere is the Knight of the Round Table who returns Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. He serves as King Arthur's marshal and is frequently associated with Sir Kay...
, later known as Sir Bedivere, and an earlier reference in the poem indicates that the euhemerized
Euhemerus
Euhemerus was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedon. Euhemerus' birthplace is disputed, with Messina in Sicily as the most probable location, while others champion Chios, or Tegea.-Life:...
god Manawydan
Manawydan
Manawydan fab Llŷr is a figure of Welsh mythology, the son of Llŷr and the brother of Brân the Blessed and Brânwen. The first element in his name is cognate with the stem of the name of the Irish sea god Manannán mac Lir, and likely originated from the same Celtic deity as Manannán...
is involved as well. "The City of the Legion" may be a reference to Caerleon
Caerleon
Caerleon is a suburban village and community, situated on the River Usk in the northern outskirts of the city of Newport, South Wales. Caerleon is a site of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hill fort...
, whose name translates as such, but it might also refer to Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, the site of a large Roman base.
Cat Coit Celidon is a reference to the Caledonian Forest
Caledonian Forest
The Caledonian Forest is the name of a type of woodland that once covered vast areas of Scotland. Today, however, only 1% of the original forest survives, covering in 84 locations. The forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife, much of which is not found elsewhere in the British...
(Coed Celyddon) which once covered the Southern Uplands
Southern Uplands
The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas . The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills within this region...
of Scotland. Scholar Marged Haycock has suggested this battle can be identified with the Cad Goddeu, the "Battle of the Trees," best known from the 10th-century poem Cad Goddeu
Cad Goddeu
Cad Goddeu is a medieval Welsh poem preserved in the 14th-century manuscript known as the Book of Taliesin. The poem refers to a traditional story in which the legendary enchanter Gwydion animates the trees of the forest to fight as his army...
. Arthur is mentioned towards the end of this poem, and a fragment of a story about the battle preserved in manuscript Peniarth 98B states that the battle had an alternate name, Cad Achren, which suggests a connection with the Caer Ochren raided by Arthur in the earlier poem Preiddeu Annwfn
Preiddeu Annwfn
Preiddeu Annwfn or Preiddeu Annwn is a cryptic early medieval Welsh poem of sixty lines found in the Book of Taliesin. The text recounts an expedition with King Arthur to Annwfn or Annwn, a Welsh otherworld...
.
Various writers have asserted that this chapter supports a historical basis for King Arthur
Historical basis for King Arthur
The historical basis of King Arthur is a source of considerable debate among historians. The first datable mention of King Arthur in a historical context comes from a Latin text of the 9th century - more than three centuries after his supposed floruit in 5th to early 6th century Sub-Roman Britain...
and have tried to identify the twelve battles with historical feuds or locales (see Sites and places associated with Arthurian legend
Sites and places associated with Arthurian legend
The following is a list and assessment of sites and places associated with King Arthur and the Arthurian legend in general. Given the lack of concrete historical knowledge about one of the most potent figures in British mythology, it is unlikely that any definitive conclusions about the claims for...
). However, scholar Thomas Green argues that the fact that the only identifiable battles linked explicitly with Arthur in Old Welsh sources are exclusively mythological undermines any claims that the battles had a basis in history.
Marvels
The Historia also contains a list of marvels, or wonders, in a section known as de mirabilibus britanniae. Several of these are associated with Arthur (Chapter 73):- There is another marvel in the region which is called Buelt. There is a mound of stones there and one stone placed above the pile with the pawprint of a dog in it. When Cabal, who was the dog of Arthur the soldier, was hunting the boar Troynt, he impressed his print in the stone, and afterwards Arthur assembled a stone mound under the stone with the print of his dog, and it is called the Carn Cabal. And men come and remove the stone in their hands for the length of a day and a night; and on the next day it is found on top of its mound.
- There is another wonder in the region which is called ErcingErgyngErgyng was a Welsh kingdom of the sub-Roman and early medieval period, between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was later referred to by the English as Archenfield.-Location:...
. A tomb is located there next to a spring which is called Licat Amr; and the name of the man who is buried in the tomb was called thus: Amr. He was the son of Arthur the soldier, and Arthur himself killed and buried him in that very place. And men come to measure the grave and find it sometimes six feet in length, sometimes nine, sometimes twelve, sometimes fifteen. At whatever length you might measure it at one time, a second time you will not find it to have the same length--and I myself have put this to the test.
The sections that provide these stories are present in the Harleian manuscript, but not in all of the existing recensions.
Germanus
There are also chapters relating events about Saint Germanus of AuxerreGermanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre was a bishop of Auxerre in Gaul. He is a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorated on July 31. He visited Britain in around 429 and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society...
that claim to be excerpts from a (now lost) biography about this saint, a unique collection of traditions about Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
, as well as a section describing events in the North of England in the sixth and seventh centuries which begins with a paragraph about the beginnings of Welsh literature
Literature of Wales (Welsh language)
After literature written in the classical languages literature in the Welsh language is the oldest surviving literature in Europe. The Welsh literary tradition stretches from the 6th century to the twenty-first. Its fortunes have fluctuated over the centuries, in line with those of the Welsh...
(ch. 62):
- At that time, Talhaiarn Cataguen was famed for poetry, and NeirinAneirinAneirin or Neirin was a Dark Age Brythonic poet. He is believed to have been a bard or 'court poet' in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Old North or Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland...
, and TaliesinTaliesinTaliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...
and Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called Guenith Guaut, were all famous at the same time in British poetry.
Associated works
There are a number of works that are frequently associated with the Historia Brittonum, in part because some of them first appear with the text preserved in the Harleian manuscript, and partly because whenever the Historia Britonum is studied, these sources eventually are mentioned.- The Lebor Bretnach. A GaelicGoidelic languagesThe Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
translation of Historia Brittonum, and a recension of the 'Nennian' Historia Brittonum. - The Annales CambriaeAnnales CambriaeAnnales Cambriae, or The Annals of Wales, is the name given to a complex of Cambro-Latin chronicles deriving ultimately from a text compiled from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales, not later than the 10th century...
. This is a chronicleChronicleGenerally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
consisting of a series of unnumbered years, from AD 445 to 977, some of which have events added. Two notable events are next to AD 516, which describes The Battle of Badon, and 537537Year 537 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year after the Consulship of Belisarius...
, which describes the Battle of CamlannBattle of CamlannThe Battle of Camlann is best known as the final battle of King Arthur, where he either died in battle, or was fatally wounded fighting his enemy Mordred.-Historicity:...
, "in which Arthur and MordredMordredMordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
fell." A version of this was used as a starting point for later Welsh Chronicles. - Welsh GenealogiesGenealogyGenealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
. One of many collections of Welsh genealogies, this documents the lineage of Hywel DdaHywel DdaHywel Dda , was the well-thought-of king of Deheubarth in south-west Wales, who eventually came to rule Wales from Prestatyn to Pembroke. As a descendant of Rhodri Mawr, through his father Cadell, Hywel was a member of the Dinefwr branch of the dynasty and is also named Hywel ap Cadell...
, king of Wales, and several of his contemporaries. The Pillar of ElisegPillar of ElisegThe Pillar of Eliseg also known as Elise's Pillar or Croes Elisedd in Welsh, stands near Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire, Wales, at . It was erected by Cyngen ap Cadell , king of Powys in honour of his great-grandfather Elisedd ap Gwylog...
is frequently discussed in connection with these genealogies. - Anglo-Saxon Genealogies. This is a version of a collection of the genealogies of five pre-Viking kingdoms -- BerniciaBerniciaBernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
, Deira, KentKingdom of KentThe Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...
, East AngliaKingdom of the East AnglesThe Kingdom of East Anglia, also known as the Kingdom of the East Angles , was a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps the eastern part of the Fens...
, and MerciaMerciaMercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
-- better known in its independent form.
Primary sources
- Historia Brittonum
- ed. and trans. John Morris (1980), Nennius: British History and the Welsh Annals. History from the Sources 8. London and Chichester: Phillimore.
- ed. David N. Dumville (1985), The Historia Brittonum: The Vatican Recension. Cambridge: Brewer.
- Translations in this article based on J. A. Giles, Six Old English Chronicles, 1848. Full text from Fordham University
- Stevenson, J., ed., Nennii Historia Britonum, vol. 1 (1838)
Secondary sources
- Alcock, Leslie (1971). Arthur's Britain: History and Archaeology AD 367-634. London: Penguin.
- Bromwich, RachelRachel BromwichRachel Bromwich was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and was Emeritus Reader in Celtic Languages and Literature at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge until her death...
(2006). Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain. University Of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1386-8. - Dumville, D.N. (1974). "Some aspects of the chronology of the Historia Brittonum." Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 25.4. 439-45.
- Green, Thomas (2007). Concepts of Arthur. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-4461-1.
- Higham, N.J. (2002). King Arthur: Myth Making and History. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Lacy, Norris J.Norris J. LacyNorris J. Lacy is an American scholar focusing on French medieval literature. He is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of French and Medieval Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a leading expert on the Arthurian legend and has written and edited numerous books, papers, and articles...
(Ed.) (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.